What is meant here?
This atom records a specific claim: for Shahrur, the human being is the active and principal agent in the movement of history. It does not offer a complete theory of all the causes of history; rather, it establishes the human being’s position within it as a principal agent.
What is attributed to Shahrur
Shahrur says: “The human being is the active and principal agent in the movement of history.”
Elsewhere, he connects the human event to its time: before it occurs, it belongs to the “world of possibilities,” and after it occurs, it enters the “world of inevitabilities—since there is no turning back—and becomes an objective historical reality.”
Atlas explanation
The word “principal” is important: it establishes the human being’s central position in the movement of history, but does not in itself deny the existence of other factors or laws. Likewise, the transition from possibility to what cannot be reversed describes the status of the human event before and after its realization, not the source of all historical transformations.
Synthetic conclusion
The two statements can be read together to mean that the human event first belongs to the realm of possibility and then, once it occurs, becomes a historical reality that cannot be reversed. This is an explanatory synthesis of two texts, not a single literal statement by Shahrur.
Open question and limits of the reading
How does Shahrur explain the relationship between human agency and the “sunan,” or non-human conditions, in history? The direct evidence does not settle this question. Nor does this passage alone establish that the human being is the sole agent, or that every historical course is attributable to a specific individual or collective action.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur al-Qasas al-Qur’ani vol. 1
- History, evolution, and the Sunan
- human being
- history
- The Qur’anic narrative explains history, not merely recounts it
al-Qasas al-Qur’ani vol. 1 · The Qur’anic narrative explains history, not merely recounts it